Israeli police gather next to a car used in a ramming attack in Tel Aviv on Friday. AFP

An Israeli security source identified the assailant as an Israeli Arab from the town of Kafr Qassem.

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A police officer who was nearby arrived at the scene to find several people wounded and an overturned car near a popular Tel Aviv promenade. The officer "neutralised" the driver when he tried to pull a gun, police said.

The car had veered off the street near a popular bike and walking path along the beach. Reuters video from shortly after the incident showed a white car upside down on the grass of a park. Police cordoned off the area that was brimming with emergency responders.

Technicians take fingerprints of the attacker in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday. AP

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed on Twitter that the man killed was Italian.

It was the second deadly attack on Friday, after two Israeli sisters were killed when their car was shot up in the occupied West Bank.

A US State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the US "strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks...The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed police "to mobilise all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to mobilise additional forces to confront the terror attacks," his office said.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said all the victims in the Tel Aviv attack were tourists.

The police said four reserve companies of border police would be called up in the coming days.

Reuters